Saturday, February 9, 2013

Narendra Modi Chronicles....

My Taj!

This appeared in Asian Age / Deccan Chronicle today....

Narendra Modi ki Jadoo…

Lit Pests and Lit Fests go hand in hand.
That’s what makes it so much fun. I do hope some well meaning idiots don’t try
and sanitise these literary carnivals anytime soon.What’s a Lit Fest without at
least one juicy controversy? While the just concluded Sahitya Utsav in Agra was
relatively calm (the thick fog and biting cold dulled our senses somewhat ),
some of the sessions did get pretty heated – thank God! At mine, the ‘N’ word (
Narendrabhai) came up repeatedly. Vani Tripathi, one of Narendra Modi’s national level general
secretaries, set the ball rolling by extolling her political boss’ many
virtues. This was a couple of days before his ‘Ab Dilli door nahi’ visit to the
Capital. Assembled invitees on the grounds of the DPS school, cheered her on
and clapped each time she pointed out some khaas achievement of Modi’s.
Initially, I was a bit stumped. We were in Yadav land. Mayawati’s shadow was
also omnipresent. And yet, there were more taalis than gaalis for Modi.
Something significant had obviously changed. And changed when no one was
looking. Modi is suddenly kosher!It’s okay to praise him in polite company.
It’s okay to talk about him as the next Prime Minister of India. It’s okay to
nod approvingly when people point to the progress in Gujarat and give Modi sole
credit for it. Hardly anybody brings up Godhra. And even if someone does ( as I
did), people’s eyes glaze over and then it’s back to singing his praises as the
only dynamic, progressive, results-driven leader in the country. As the man who
delivers ( but… what?) .As a chief minister who has transformed his state and
given a global vision to his people. Gujaratis themselves sound smug and super
confident when they speak about Narendrabhai being the next prime minister (
“Choukkas thassey!”). It is almost a given. Now , Modi is being compared to
Nehru! Sweet irony. Where does that leave Nehru’s great grand-son -
Rahul Baba ? If even his legacy and lineage are going to be smoothly
hijacked and snatched away, what will our Dimpled Darling fall back on?

Perhaps that is the whole point. Maybe
Modi’s A-Team has come up with a simple strategy - strip the rival off the only attribute he
possesses ( an accident of birth), appropriate his birthright ( dynasty still
counts), and leave the poor man shivering in the unseasonal rain in Delhi.
Brilliant! Modi’s managers have been
hard at work rebranding the firebrand. That’s a pretty tough assignment, given
Modi’s history. But after convincingly winning his third term as Chief
Minister, Modi and his crew are on pretty strong ground. It is Modi’s time now,
they insist. With his proven track record as an able administrator, Modi is the
one who should rightfully claim that coveted kursi. For his part, he is
shrewdly making all the right noises and moves. His much quoted reference to
the half-full, half-empty glass has gone down well with the media. Never mind
the hot air ( come on… it was a pretty manipulative analogy). But what has
really stumped his critics and foes is the new assertiveness vis a vis Delhi.
Modi is not playing coy anymore. He is out there, stating his ambitions
straight up and doing so in Hindi, not Gujarati. His Hindi, in any case, is far
better than Rahul’s ( let’s not
embarrass Sonia by bringing up hers). And Modi has obviously worked hard on
improving his rashtra bhasha. The effort is paying off. It is the first vital
step he has taken to let the others know he means business.And his business has
now relocated to Delhi.

Today, Modi is no longer viewed as a
political pariah. His jadoo is working. Of course, the knives are still out for
him. His personality is such. But even his harshest critics are willing to give
him the benefit of the doubt. This is unbelievable! The same man who was called
the Butcher of Godhra not so long ago, is being feted and felicitated, not just
in his own State where he enjoys the absolute support of hard core followers,
but increasingly in Delhi, too. It’s a fascinating story to monitor and
chronicle. Its narrative involves all of us. How has Modi managed the
switcheroo so seamlessly? Is it by design or default? Are we that desperate for
change? Do we have such a short memory? Is Modi’s much touted efficiency
winning over morality? What has happened to our earlier reservations and
concerns? All thrown out of the window? How and why?

The answer is obvious. When someone says,
“I am willing to settle for an era of benevolent dictatorship under NaMo rather
than suffer the weak leadership of a
well- meaning but dumb Baba,” it’s a remark worth paying attention to. So, we
are prepared to accept a man whose track record has blood on it, over a naïve
new player who earnestly swears to serve the country but doesn’t discuss
specifics. Rahul’s sweet and innocent speech in Amethi made hardliners laugh. Modi’s aggressive
emphasis on development, on the other hand, is winning him new converts every
day. In such an atmosphere, the country’s votes are up for grabs… who knows, a
mysterious new Khiladi may appear on the scene out of nowhere and leave both
these men ( Modi and Rahul) standing open mouthed at the gatepost. If that does
happen,fans of Rahul Gandhi will be
pained to see him drifting into oblivion as a kati patang.But Narendrabhai’s
supporters will have nowhere to hide. Paradoxically enough, both men are wooing
the desi youth and projecting themselves as Youth Icons. More than any other
mission statement they might make, what is needed on a priority basis is a
definition of ‘Youth’. Remember, India’s 8th Prime Minister Chandra
Shekhar was referred to as a Young Turk, pretty much till he died, aged 80.

***************

Yes. He was finally hanged. Afzal Guru. Why did we wait this long? Politics of convenience and timing. Two evils do not virtue make!

Shobaji ..i have nothing personal against ..but in reference to your article 'the modi chronicle' I feel the article is written to entertain people rather than giving a perfectly practical understanding of what you have written ....it celebrates your writing skills which is completely mindless and half knowledged rather than focussing on the points ...

When someone says, “I am willing to settle for an era of benevolent dictatorship under NaMo rather than suffer the weak leadership of a well- meaning but dumb Baba,” it’s a remark worth paying attention to

Thats sums up the mood of the nation - who hope some hard decisions are better than selling the country and pleading I am honest person.

Dear shoba de, could you write about bangladeshi protesters in shahbag ,dhaka.New generation is yearning for war crminal's sentence to death.pls raise your voice and support it.i know you are a strong writer of indian subcontinent.

my my my! Gucci Gucci Shobhaben is at it again. Narendrabhai Modi seems to be the viagara of our sickular perverts! The only problem for our madame is that her rants will only have a handful of takers. A few non-voting and uncaring snooty upper class ones ( you know the Gastaad types ) and a few more riffraffs down the class/social pecking order.She loathes the greatest Indian politician today becoming the PM. She is rightly averse to our Amul baby becoming one. Your majesty has a sneaking suspicion that My Fair Lady is rooting for the modern day Bengali version of Durga Mata, the Chief Minister of her Bongo Bongo in-law land. Or perhaps she might just be rooting for her Aamchi Mumbaiwala Uddhav. With the former, all we will have is no governance and a load of tongue lashing. With the later, we will end up with no Biharis in the country. As for those of us wretched plebeians , who are rooting for Modi as PM, let me assure our feisty 'young' lady that in the event of the great great man not ending up in 7 Race Course road anytime soon, we will not need a hiding place. We have the pride, self-respect and the strength of character to face any adversity and that too with a greater resolve. And in the unlikely event of even if we need one, there is always that upmarket locale of Dharavi, in your front yard. Now that will be real fun!

Literary fest is the latest addition of the various opportunities of socio-cultural interactions and for a change the the so called intellectuals-writers being at the focus.Probably time has taken a full circle and one can imagine the days of mark twain and his sojourn with such kind of activities with the addition which Shobha has aptly described of the demonstration of various acquisitions by those attending.agra was also witness to one of those recently as we'll. and going by the type of response and the rat race which usually follows many more will erupt in next few years keeping the pen-moving-force of india( and partly abroad)on their toes( run.it is not clear whether shobhaji has pardoned namo of his crime in the country where compulsions of number based/caste based politics ecxeptions should be made while deciding about the fate of the country especially in light of the fact that was is happening in the backyard/neighbourhood

I guess they would rather not explain the definition of youth, which in politics might mean being less than 60 70 80 years of age. NaMo is trying to project himself as future PM, but more importantly will BJP project him so? NaMo is divisive and NDA cannot afford to lose support of it's allies.

Modi has blood on his hands is clearly evident to desh-bhakt-congressi [hey do not laugh, I am being serious here] like myself and Ms. De and somehow not at all evident to the hon Supreme Court appointed SIT, which for reason not fathomable by a desh-bhakt-congressi like me, faulted super hero Mr. Bhatt and in fact had the temerity to call his bluff on his so called evidence. Please re-appoint Ms De to re-re-re investigate Modi. Just an hour is sufficient to implicate him. Then please appoint her as the judge of Hon SC and then she will send Modi to where he really belongs! That will be good riddance of pesky Modi - bada aa gaya desh ko badalne. Whats wrong with inflation? Dont you know it helps farmers. Whats wrong with farmer suicides? Dont you know it keeps population under control. Whats wrong with vote bank politics? Dont you know how costly it is to do development, our country can ill-afford development.

Dont worry Ms De, good sense may be on Modi's side, but desh-bhakt-congressi like me are always on your side and we will never allow him to be the PM. I have faith in our effort. For past 11 years, our concerted effort to keep the gujarat riots wound open will not go waste.

As you observe, our society has been accepting the negativeness with open arms in recent days....no matter what sort of tarnished background one has, as long as one is successful in projecting a dynamic outer persona,is sure to score a win! the corroding footings doesn't matter as long as a fancy structure stands up!Whoz analyzing anything by the way....Whoz looking for sanity, Whoz bothering the process of developing....what everyone needs today is the so called 'development'

I agree with the comment above - we are accepting negativeness with open arms, without checking the veracity of the comments/opinions! For a change let us accept something positive here based on truth and nothing but the truth --> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Jamiat-leaders-pro-Narendra-Modi-remarks-rile-Congress-Left/articleshow/18566685.cms

We have launched a petition to request President Obama to reconsider US Administration’s stand on Mr. Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of the State of Gujarat, India. Please review further information at MODI360.com to review and sign this petition.

Well articulated in typical Shobhaa De style. You have conveniently forgotten the fact that CBI (Congress Bureau of Investigation), Supreme Court monitored SIT has not found a shred of evidence against him. Not even a charge sheet. yet the media keeps on going on 2002.

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